On Mon, 16 Oct 1995, Alan E West wrote:

> I would be interested to know if any museums charge for the
> identification of objects and artefacts brought into the museum by
> members of the public.  If a charge is made, how much is it?  Has
> charging led to a decrease in the number of objects seen by staff?

The museums that I have worked at have had policies NOT to identify
object.  When curators assisted the public with researching their
objects, museum policy was to emphasize the fact that museum employees
were not authorized to provide identifications.  Providing
identifications and charging implies authority and could lead to legal
problems if an identification later turned out to be wrong.

Susan Wageman
Grants Coordinator                 [log in to unmask]
The Tech Museum of Innovation      (408) 279-7178
145 West San Carlos Street         fax (408) 279-7149
San Jose, CA  95113                http://www.thetech.org